Introducing your teenager to credit as soon as possible is a great way to get them prepared for all the future credit products they’re bound to encounter in life. Practicing responsible credit behavior with a credit card or even as an authorized user can help your teen establish credit, which is necessary for taking out student loans, mortgages and other credit products. Plus, having a good credit score is key to getting the best rates and terms for credit products.
If the debt is due to drop off of your report in the next several months because it is almost seven years old, consider waiting until then to pay it, as it will have no affect on your score once it disappear. If the debt shows as written off but will still show on your credit report for longer than a few months, collect all of the funds together to completely pay it off before making contact with the lender. That way, you will potentially re-activate the debt but will also show payment in full, which will minimize the damage to your score.
Hybrid loan option: CommonBond offers a unique “Hybrid” rate option in which rates are fixed for five years and then become variable for five years. This option can be a good choice for borrowers who intend to make extra payments and plan on paying off their student loans within the first five years. If you can a better interest rate on the Hybrid loan than the Fixed-rate option, you may end up paying less over the life of the loan.
The statement date (which occurs well before your payment due date) is the date listed on your statement when the credit card company records your balance to charge interest for the month. It is also the balance reported to the credit bureaus. If you are planning to make a lump sum payment to the balance and want to see the positive result to your credit score as quick as possible, make the payment well before that statement date so the new lower (or zero) balance is recorded and reported.
There are a lot of myths out there about credit scoring – hopefully we can help you understand FICO scoring, so you can take action to build your score. There are five major components FICO uses to determine a credit score. Fortunately, understanding the secret sauce can help you build a strong score and healthy credit report. Both a 700+ score and healthy credit report will help keep the rest of your financial life cheaper by enabling you to get lower interest rates on loans and approved for top-tier financial products.
If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the credit reporting company, you can request that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You can also ask the credit reporting company to provide a statement to anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay a fee for this service, and a dispute on your credit report does not improve your credit score.
While it seems to make sense to pay off all of your old delinquent debts, this strategy can sometimes backfire and drop your score further. If a credit account is simply overdue and shows as outstanding debt, paying it off will improve your score – though it won't eradicate the record of late payments. But if you have an old debt on your credit report that has been charged off by the lender – meaning that they do not expect further payments – setting up a new payment plan can re-activate the debt and make it appear to be more current than it actually is. This is often the case with debt that has been turned over to a collection agency. The agency may register the debt with credit bureaus as new rather than reporting it against the written-off debt.

Anyone who ever had a grandmother or grandfather should know that rushing a family recipe or lovingly-crafted process never works. There are an ingredient and a philosophy that can’t be touched or seen by the human eye but can be only be missed when that special knot doesn’t hold, or the meal flops bigger than a bass on holiday – tradition. Fast credit repair is like grabbing something in a box and expecting it to taste like “grandma used to make.” Unless the grandmother was a chemist and her kitchen was stocked with additives that may or may not put a lab rat down for the count that good, old-fashioned taste is most likely missing. Unfortunately, those who used those “pay-me-now” fast credit repair places and the rodent with digestive issues probably stand about the same chance of being approved for a new credit card. No animals are ever harmed when credit repair is done correctly – it simply takes time.

Sometimes in life, you can take your sweet time, like when you’re taking a Sunday drive, getting to know someone before getting married, or putting together Ikea furniture. However, there are plenty of other instances where time is of the essence. Shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve? You’ll probably want to get in and get out. Have a big project at work and the boss is flying in tomorrow? It behooves you to have it done if you want that raise.

Unfortunately, some credit blunders may be out of your hands. Unfairly reported or inaccurate information can plague an otherwise clean credit score. Protect yourself by staying up-to-date. Order a free copy of your credit report and review its contents. Check to verify your correct name, address, and other basic information. Look closely at your accounts to make sure your balances are accurate and there is no duplicate reporting. If you need help, contact one of our legal experts for a free credit repair consultation and analysis. False reporting is illegal, and your credit health depends on action.
The third factor that is utilized to calculate credit score is your history of credit. This category is catered towards how long each line of credit has been opened. For example, how long have your credit cards been active? How long go did you open a car loan? The longer a loan or credit line has been active, the better your history of credit will be. Now, this category is relatively easy to control. All you need to do is keep quality active lines of credit open. In other articles on our website, we discuss what could happen if you decide to close a matured credit line.
If you’re thinking about filing for bankruptcy, be aware that bankruptcy laws require that you get credit counseling from a government-approved organization within six months before you file for bankruptcy relief. You can find a state-by-state list of government-approved organizations at www.usdoj.gov/ust, the website of the U.S. Trustee Program. That’s the organization within the U.S. Department of Justice that supervises bankruptcy cases and trustees. Be wary of credit counseling organizations that say they are government-approved, but don’t appear on the list of approved organizations.
UPDATE: The Alternative Loan Machine is actually fixing the issue for me now. Apparently the problem was during the period when they were switching from beta testing to going live. Their communications were down while they were transferring everything over to their new system. They’ve since contacted me and are assisting in getting my refund back from the vendor I hired through them, so everything’s getting taken care now. They are at this time doing everything they advertise themselves doing.